Broken
by Twisted-Persona
Summary: After the duel with Pegasus in the Shadow Realm Atem wakes up back in reality, but Yugi is nowhere to be found. Whats even stranger is what's going on inside the Millenium Puzzle. Atem has to find Yugi and set this right before both thier worlds are destroyed. Rated T for later chapters.
1. Prologue

_**Prologue:**_

Maximilian Pegasus stood across from Atem, Yugi Moto's alter ego, at the opposite end of the field. This was the battle to decide the winner of the Duelist Kingdom and the fate of not only Yugi's Grandpa's soul and those of the Kaiba brothers, but Yugi's as well. Pegasus had been certain of his victory, being that his Millennium Eye gave him the power to know Yugi's strategy the moment he thought of it, so he had put everything he owns on the line believing that he couldn't lose. Unfortunately the tables had turned and Atem was about the make the winning move. It was all over for Pegasus, he would lose everything, including his only chance to bring back his lost love, who had died many year ago. That was the reason behind the tournament. He had discovered that by gathering all the Millennium Items he could restore her to this existence and had started Duelist Kingdom in hopes of gathering all the items in one place. Atem made his move and Pegasus's life points became zero. The duel was over with Atem as the victor. The clouds of the Shadow Realm that had been all around them were beginning to subside as they returned to the real world. Pegasus could not let it end this way, could not let everything he'd worked so hard for slip through his fingers with a single battle. It a final effort he concentrated all the power in his Millennium Eye and bypassed the barricade that had been placed on Atem's and Yugi's minds. The two had merged once more instead of being two separate entities as they were during the battle. The sudden mental penetration hit them like a hammer and knocked them back, but did no real damage. What came next was the thing that did them in. During the battle Yugi's mind couldn't handle the strain of the Shadow Realm. Its destructive powers nearly killed him, so Atem took his place. Now without the shield of his friends both Atem and Yugi were fully exposed to the Shadow Realm. Pegasus used what remained of his energy to use his eye to deal one final blow to their minds. At the same time the Shadow Realm seeped in and ravaged whatever wasn't hit by the attacked. Atem lost consciousness and fell back on to the connecting bridge linked to the stadium as what was left of the dark clouds cleared away. Tea, Tristan, and Joey ran to their best friend's side when they saw his body laying still on the bridge. Tea sank to her knees next to him and began shouting desperately, "Yugi! Yugi! Wake up! Yugi!"

Tristan looked at Yugi then to the life pointed counter in the field. It hadn't been reset. What it told him puzzled him greatly. He voiced his thought, calmly even though he was freaked out and worried on the inside, "Guys, look. Yugi won."

Joey, almost at the point of crying, had gone to Yugi's side telling his unconscious friend that he would make it through this, that he had to. Joey glared at Tristan angrily and yelled at him, his voice breaking as he did so, "How is that important right now?! Are you more worried about a dumb game than our best friend?!"

Tristan let out a breath, keeping his cool, "No, Joey. What i'm saying is, Yugi won, so how did this happen?"

Tea and Joey stopped for a moment to think about this. It was strange after all. What happened in the Shadow Realm that could have done this?

Nobody had noticed Pegasus slip away while they were thinking about this, but he didn't get very far.


	2. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1:**_

Atem awoke in a somewhat familiar place, but he could quite place it. His mind was fuzzy and it took him a moment to realize he was in his room at Pegasus's Castle on the Duelist Kingdom island. It took him a few more moments to realize that he shouldn't be waking up in this body, but in his mind space. He propped himself up to a sitting position on leaned back slightly, putting his weight on his hands that kept him upright. He shook his head trying to clear the fog from his mind. Unfortunately it did nothing to lift the haze. A flash of memory came to him suddenly and was gone as quickly as it had came. The memory was of him and Pegasus dueling in the Shadow Realm. The memory, though vague, triggered a feeling of dread and a sense that something terrible had happened. He tried calling to Yugi with his mind... and received no answer. A woman's voice startled him from his thoughts, a woman's voice that he didn't recognize. He looked over at her, she was dressed in white and had a cap on her head that had a red cross at its center. She smiled at him and continued, "Its go to see you're finally awake. Can I get you anything?"

"Who are you? What happened?"

The woman filled a small foam cup with water and handed it to him. He only realized how thirsty he was when he looked at the fluid. She answered his question while he drank, "I work here as a nurse. You can call me Kara. As for what happen, none of us are really sure. Your friends found you unconscious after the battle. You've been in a coma for a day and a half. We thought you might not come back. The doctor was ready to call it. After all, in your condition you couldn't have held out much longer."

This statement took a moment to register, and when it did it confused Atem. He had been fine, what was she talking about?

"My... condition?"

The smile faded from Kara's face and she pulled out her pocket mirror, handing it to him. His eyes widened. What Atem saw in the tiny mirror looked like a ghost. His skin had groan many shades paler and there were dark circle around his eyes. He was thinner somehow and over all he appeared rather ill. He reflection was him but not him. Nothing had actually changed, but his normal appearance had become sickly, as though his body were losing a battle with a terrible disease. His dark hair, which was usually spiked up at strange angles, now hung down lifelessly. His blonde bangs, generally spiky and always in their place, were dull and hung close to his face. One look at him and you could tell something was definitely wrong.

"The duel... how did it end..?"

Kara took her mirror as he handed it back to her, "You won. Everything you see here belongs to you now. Its all yours."

"And my friends..?"

"They're still here. They wanted to see you. To know that you're ok."

Atem threw the blanket that covered him up to his waist to the side and put his legs over the edge of the bed. He was wearing pale blue hospital pajamas, the same dotted patten on both the pants and shirt. He took a deep breath and stood up, but his legs felt like his muscles were made of jello and he fell. Kara helped him up and back on the bed. Before he could ask why she explained, "You've been in a coma. You're muscles have deteriorated considerably so you're too weak to walk. Hold on a minute. I'll get a wheel chair and take you to see your friends."

He sat at the edge of the bed while she walked out the door in to the hall. Kara returned ten minutes later and helped him into the chair. Atem, who had always been so confident and collected, found that this was all a lot to take in. There was a blank in his memory while he was dueling Pegasus. The first half of the battle was hazy and out of focus in his mind, but the second half was nonexistent. It was just gone.

Atem and Kara continued down the hallway, coming out at the balcony area above the stadium, which was now back to being an ordinary room. Tea, Tristan, and Joey rushed over to him, glad he was ok. They were shocked by how sickly he appeared but didn't let that get in the way of their reunion.

Tears started to fall from Tea's eye's, "Oh, Yugi! We thought we lost you!"

Joey crossed his arms in front of him and grinned, "Yeah, Yugi. You gave us a real scare."

Tristan grinned too and gave Atem a punch to the arm, "That was a close call, Man, but lets forget the sad stuff. You won!"

A thought dawned on Atem, "The souls, were they released?"

Tristan smiled slyly, "See for yourself."

At that moment Mokuba ran down the opposite hall toward them, "Yugi!"

Atem stared at the boy, surprised, "Mokuba!"

The child stopped in front of him and brushed his long black hair from his eyes, "Yugi... You saved us."

The boy smiled, "Thanks to you, Yugi, Seto and I are together again. I wanted to thank you and see if you were ok. We're going to be heading home soon."

Seto Kaiba put his hand on his younger brother's shoulder and looked at Atem, "Thank you, Yugi. My little brother is everything to me."

Atem nodded, "I made a promise. I'm glad you two can be together again."

They looked each other in the eyes and a silent acknowledgment passed between them. They were still rivals, but they had a new respect for one another.

"We should be going. The helicopter's waiting outside."

With that Kaiba and Mokuba turned and walked away. Before stepping out the door Kiaba turned back to face Atem, "Until the next duel."

Then the two disappeared through the doors of the castle, on their way home.

Atem watched them go. Suddenly a sharp stab of pain went through his mind and he clutched his temple, wincing. A memory came back to him of the duel with Pegasus. He had just made his final move and won the tournament. He and Yugi merge their minds, standing in the hallway between the two rooms of their shared mind space. They were smiling, happy they'd defeated Pegasus. Yugi's eyes were bright and shining and with them stood their friends in the corridor, all celebrating the victory, when all of a sudden their friends disappeared and a blinding bright light filled the space. Then the light vanished and everything became black.

Atem opened his eyes to see his friends stared worriedly at him. Tea was the one to speak, "Yugi... Are you alright?"

He nodded slowly, "Just tired."

Kara cleared her throat and spoke up, "Its been a long day. I'll take him back to his room so he can rest."


	3. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2:**_

Atem lay sleeping in his bed. He had been trying to contact Yugi for hours, to no avail. He finally decided that he should go and look for him. Now he stood in the twisting halls and winding staircases of his mind space. The cold stone walls were illuminated only by torches place at intervals along the stone. The air was dank and musty, as if inside a pharaoh's tomb. In a way, it was. The Millennium Puzzle was the final resting place of the spirit of a five thousand year old pharaoh. Atem stood in the chamber where he had appeared, taking note that he was able to walk in the mind space. Here his muscle strength didn't matter so his weakened body had no effect on him. He called out to Yugi, his voice echoing down the corridor, but the only answer he received was his own voice calling out in the empty space; and even it faded away. He set out through the maze of chambers and stairways in search of his lost friend. The place seemed different somehow, darker. The flames on the walls were dim, and gave off little warmth. Atem realized that these torches that were suppose to burn for all eternity were going out. He hurriedly left the hallway, coming to the top of a set of stairs. Looking over the edge you could see more stairs coming off of different rooms and halls, but you could not see where the stairs ended, as the farther down you looked the darker it got and the bottom of the stairs was shrouded in a sea of shadows. Even so, it was definitely a long way down, and this was certainly not a place you wanted to fall from. Everywhere strange particles were floating upward, toward the darkness above him. Upon closer inspection Atem could see that the particles were bits of his surroundings: the stone, the stairs, the walls and floors, all of them were slowly dissolving and drifting toward whatever was above him. _Most likely, where ever these particles are headed they don't plan on returning from_, he figured, _it would be best I avoid following them if I plan on returning._ Deeper thoughts were drawn to his mind such as 'Why is this world disappearing?'

He allowed these questions into his thoughts as he continued on down the staircase. After about seventy stairs the stairway ended and an entrance loomed to his right. With no other way to take he carefully stepped into the dark corridor. There were but a few lit torches still clinging to their rusted braces half hanging on the wall. It was ice cold in this hall. Cobwebs clung to the corners and hung down from the ceiling. Atem did not let this phase him as he tredded down the long hallway. He had almost reached the corridor's exit when he heard the moaning behind him. Atem turned to look behind him. What he saw made his eyes widen in shock, but realization had yet to hit him. Semi-Transparent black masses were forming, coming out of the floor, ceiling, and walls. They moaned their woes as the materialized, slinking along the cold stone toward Atem. These creatures made their misery known, as they were lost souls banished and forever trapped in the Shadow Realm.

"uuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhmmmmmeeeeh hhhhhhhhhhh..." The souls moaned continuously, never stopping. The more they moaned though, the clearer their words became. They were calling him. The souls words were now as clear as crystal. They moaned his name, "Yami..."

This startled him. They knew his name, but how? And how did they get here? Inside the Puzzle?

"Who are you? How did you get inside the Millennium Puzzle?" Atem asked them.

The souls continued to slink towards him, paying no heed to his questions, only moaning his name.

"I can help you! You need only to tell me how!"

Once more the souls did not respond; they only moaned his name.

Then a question arose from them, it was dragged out in a moan and pierced Atem, hard.

"Why did you do this to us, Yami...?"

Atem was thrown by this question. He faltered, "I-I have done nothing."

The souls were almost to him and he could sense their hostility. Atem turned and ran into the room at the end of the corridor, a heavy stone door slamming shut behind him, the soul's last words echoing in his mind, "Why..?"

He didn't have much time to think on the matter though, as the souls came through the walls and the door. Looking around him there were no doors in the room, no way out. Just as the souls were advancing on him a trap door opened underneath him and then he was falling. He felt himself slipping away as he went down. Soon the place he'd came from faded into shadows. He watched as the walls around him became strange as he fell. The started off the same the others, but the further he fell the more holes they had in them, missing whole sections of bricks. Soon enough they were just a few clusters of bricks here and there. The space between was black, with a purplish hue; it resembled storm clouds. Then he hit the ground. After several minutes of laying prone Atem pushed himself to a sitting position and looked around. His eye widened in shock at his surroundings. The ground was only a good sized patch of stone floating amongst the strange purple clouds. Grave stones stood in random places on the island. They had the had the names of duel monsters on them. _The Card Graveyard? _

A creaking sound came from behind him, shaking him from his thoughts. He turned to see a door. It opened to a plain hallways with only another door directly across. It was a simple door, but Atem knew who it belonged to. He rushed toward the door, into the hall, his own door closing behind him, "Yugi!"

Atem turned the knob on the door and threw it open, hoping to see who he thought would be behind it, but the sight was far from what he expected. The room was not the same and nobody was inside. Broken toys were scattered about, many missing pieces. The wallpaper was torn and the walls themselves had holes down to the wiring. The ceiling had an enormous hole in it as well and flakes of snow drifted down though it and in to the room. The room was filled with dust. It coated everything and the horrible stench of smoke hung heavy in the air. The window was broken and the wind was blowing the torn shredded curtains. Atem fell to him knees at the sight of the once happy place, tears forcing their way from his eyes and a single snowflake fell into his hand.


	4. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3:**_

When morning came Atem woke in a cold sweat. The rays of the sun shone through the large arched windows, whose curtains had been pulled back to give a clear view across the island. In all honesty it was a beautiful day outside, but in here Atem was haunted by his trip in the Millennium Puzzle. He lay back on his pillow, draping his forearm across his forehead. Though the weather was good and the sun sparkled like a diamond in the blue ocean that was the sky, it seemed like the area of Atem's room was covered by dark clouds. The mind space was falling apart, Yugi was nowhere to be found, and he had no idea what to do about it. There was a soft knock at the door, which took his attention from his problems long enough for him to say, "Come in."

Bakura poked his head through the doorway, giving Atem a weak, but sincere, smile.

"How are you, Yugi?"

Atem tried to fake a smile, but it ended up looking like a grimace. Bakura stepped in to the room, taking note of Atem's expression, "That bad?"

"Alot on my mind." _Literally_, He thought.

"Maybe you could think of something else? Do something to take your mind off things? You've been through quite a bit. "

"That may help, but there are so many things I must figure out. It is gravely important."

Bakura paused a moment, thinking, then said, "You can't let these matters consume you, then you'll never find the answers. Especially in your current condition."

"You're probably right. If I could go anywhere I'd take you up on your offer, but seeing that I'm unable to walk that could prove rather difficult."

"Kara's run on an errand, so maybe I could be of assistance?"

Atem nodded and sat up on the edge of the bed. In the mind space he was able to walk, but here in reality his body was too weak for such a task. Bakura helped him to stand and half walked half carried him the three feet to the wheelchair Kara had originally brought the day before. Even in that short walk his muscles had nearly collapsed. It seemed that, as the mind space deteriorated, so did he. If it were completely destroyed then what did that leave of him? Most likely he'd die with it. This was not a pleasant thought. Bakura took him to the dining hall, where everybody was filtering in, with many already at the table. He looked at Yugi's friends seated around the table They smiled at him and waved, completely unaware of the turmoil he was going through, and oblivious to the fact that he wasn't Yugi or that Yugi may not even exist anymore. Glancing around the room he saw that Pegasus, this castle's former owner was not in the room, and was curious as the where he'd gone. Being that Atem had no memories of the end of the duel or anything from the day and a half after it he didn't even know if Pegasus was still alive or on the island. Bakura wheeled him to the empty space at the head of the table and took a seat of his own as the clock in the room struck noon and the waiters brought out lunch to the table. Joey and Tristan both took heaping plates of food and begun scarfing them down. Atem barely ate anything though, as his thoughts had followed him and refused him a moment's peace.

After lunch his friends gather around, making suggestions to try to cheer him up. Nothing worked. Joey put on a big grin then and exclaimed, "Why not have a duel?"

Atem shook his head, "I don't know about this..."

But Joey cut him off and said, "Come on, You love dueling. And besides, it'll be fun."

Atem sighed. There was no fighting Joey when he's made up his mind, "Fine. One duel."

At the dueling arena in the castle Joey took his place and Atem took his. Being that he couldn't stand a chair was placed for him to sit on while he was there. They each drew their cards and the holographic generators were activated. Joey had the first move, "Ok. I draw one card then play Alligator Sword in attack mode! And I'll place a face down card to end my turn."

"My move." Atem drew a card and announced his move, "I play Celtic Guardian in attack mode! Then I'll use this spell card to make his attacks stronger. I place two face down cards as well. That will end my turn."

Atem knew he was playing it safe by not attacking. Something lurked inside of him, something deep and dark: fear. He was scared since his duel with Pegasus, terrified of what had happened to him. He didn't want it to happen again, so he took more caution now. Joey seemed to notice this as well, but didn't say anything. He just drew his card and made his move, sending Alligator Sword to attack Celtic Guardian. Atem sprung one of his trap cards in response, destroying Alligator Sword. Now Joey's turn ended and Atem drew a card. Looking at it, he saw it was The Dark Magician. Suddenly a flash of memory passed threw his mind, too quick to really see. Flashes kept coming, and in between them he saw the field blur and spin. He dropped his cards on the floor as he fainted. The last thing he saw was Joey's worried face staring at him from across the virtual field. He barely heard him shout his name before he hit the hard metal ground.

Atem woke up with his friends looking down at him, all worried.

Tea asked him shakily, "Yugi..? Are you... Are you ok?"

Atem tried to sit up, but fell back to the floor. The only words he could manage to choke out were, "My... Head..." as he put his hand on his forehead.

Joey cursed himself then said, "I'm sorry... I should have made you duel... You're body's still too weak to stand up to it..."

The friends helped him back to his room. All the while he thought about what Joey had said. It wasn't his body that could handle it; It was his mind. The memories had come in a blur, and left when he passed out. He had been afraid to be dueling, and it showed. Yugi was lost. His mind was unraveling. And a new realization dawned on him. _I can't duel anymore..._


	5. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4:**_

Again in the mind space. Atem found himself spending much more time in here. Though it was falling to pieces he preffered it as opposed to reality. Here he was able to walk, meaning he was able to search for his lost friend. Yugi was more than that… They were as close as two individuals can be, even sharing the same body. He was desperate to find him, so he tredded through the damaged and destroyed world of his mind. The strange purple clouds hung in the air all around and spirits lurked in the distance. He was fortunate they hadn't noticed him. Last time he'd had an encounter with them he'd barely escaped with his life… erm, afterlife?

Thinking about it, all Atem was was a restless spirit, a drifting soul. Maybe he was falling apart because he was on his own? In a body that wasn't his? But that didn't seem quite right. Atem looked around, this time really looking. This place was familiar… extremely familiar. The purple clouds, the lost spirits, the graves. This was the Shadow Realm. Somehow his mind and the Shadow Realm were becoming one, mergeing together. But how? He had so many questions. One thought haunted the forefront of his mind: Where's Yugi? He started running, for no actual reason, in the direction the island pathway took him. The was a break in the bridge ahead, so he came to an abrupt halt at the edge, nearly falling off due to momentum. The other side of the broken bridge loomed just out of his jumping distance, seeming to taunt him. He stood at the edge, staring down into the cloudy purple abyss, for eons, unsure what to do. All the pesky thoughts he'd pushed to the back of his mind returned in that instant, and finding Yugi seemed hopeless.

"_Don't give up…"_

That voice shook him from his misery. It was familiar. It was Yugi's voice… but it seemed so far away.

"Yugi?!" He shouted into the shadowy void, but he received no answer. It definitely had been his partner, of that he was certain, which meant that the boy was still out there. Atem stepped back a yard or two then began running forward again. _A leap of faith…_he thought as he jumped from the edge of the broken bridge. He only made it halfway and then he fell, but he hit something hard instead of falling into the void below him. This confused him greatly. Picking himself up to a sitting position he ran his hands over whatever he had fallen on. It was solid, and reminded him of glass. Atem stood up and stared down at the empty space. He didn't see anything besides a cold heartless abyss, yet he hadn't fallen into it.

"An invisible platform?" he inquired to nobody in particular. Shaking it from his mind, just being grateful it was there, he jumped to the other side of the bridge. There was no time to ponder over the mysteries of the shadow realm: He had to find Yugi.

The path he was on wound into a dark forest. Purple mist shrouded the black dead trees making the entire place seem more eerie than the rest of the Shadow Realm. It reminded him of a movie Tristan and Joey had brought to Yugi's house to watch. It was about a group of kids wondering through the woods in the middle of the night looking for their friend who'd been kidnapped. Joey had been hugging his knees curled into a ball when one of the movie characters was killed and Tristan was trying to look like he wasn't scared, but he winced and went pale whenever there was blood. Yugi, for his part, was too scared and hid in his Mind Space while Atem took over. He watched the entire movie until the ending credits, but he couldn't see the point in it and didn't understand what everybody found was so terrifying. Now, putting himself in the movie character's shoes, he was beginning to understand. This was different from the movie though, everything here could actually kill him. Also, the Shadow Realm was more dangerous than a serial killer in an ordinary forest; dark power coursed through everything living there and gave the creatures unimaginable strength. He would need to be very careful to avoid them or else have his journey cut short in the worst way. With this information at the forefront of his mind and fueled by his desire to rescue Yugi he began his trek through the ominous forest.

He had no idea how long he walked for. Time was difficult to tell in the Shadow Realm. One wouldn't be capable of differentiating between night and day here. He looked from side to side, but couldn't tell where he was. Everything looked the same, it was no use trying to figure it out. Just as he was about to turn around he noticed an apparition walking some ways down the path. It was far off, but he could tell it was human. Without any better options he ran after the specter, attempting to catch up with it and see if it could aid him. As he got closer he could make out its features. The ghost was in a blue jacket with blue pants and had tri-colured hair that was spiked in every direction in the back. The semi-transparent figure of Yugi walked on, oblivious to his presence. Atem came closer and closer to the boy, but to his dismay he soon realized that the closer he got the more transparent Yugi became. Upon reaching the spot the boy had been there was now nothing in his place. Atem didn't understand. Yugi had been there only moments ago. He looked down the path again, and the spirit was the same distance away that he had been the first time. But how? Atem didn't care, he just focused on catching up with Yugi. Again he almost got to him, but the boy disappeared before he reached him. Looking down the road the teen was there once more, like the last two times. Atem was breathing hard now. He stopped to slow his heart rate and watched Yugi get further away. Desperately he shouted to the boy, "YUGI!"

And this time the ghostly image of his partner stopped, then turned to face him. He was startled by the boy's appearance. He looked every bit as sickly as Atem did, only Yugi looked worse. His eyes were hollow looking and held all his pain and misery. His muscles were deteriorated to the point of looking skeletal. Atem felt deep sorrow for his partner. He had never meant for this to happen. The boy held his gaze for what felt like ages until he turned around and began walking once more. Atem chased him again and again, Yugi always vanishing as he got close. Always vanishing. Always…

"…_Just Out of Reach." _

Atem nodded, lamenting to the whispering words of his partner. It had shocked him the first time he heard the miserable broken voice, but now it only filled him with sadness. He watched Yugi closely as he ran. He just continued down the pathway, like he was meant to be doing so, like there was a purpose behind it. He stopped for a moment, realizeing something, "Are… Are you leading me somewhere?"

Yugi stopped and turned his head slightly, so he saw Atem out of the corner of his eye, and nodded once before continueing on. Atem followed again, this time walking at the same pace as Yugi. He didn't know where they were going, but he trusted his partner.


End file.
